Corner support for draperies



March 25, 1958 o. soLow ETAL coRNER SUPPORT FOR DRAPERIES Filed Sept.27, 1954 vif ATTORNEY United States Patent O CORNER SUPPORT FORDRAPERIES Oscar Solow, Norfolk, and Bertha Korman, Bayside, Va.

Application September 27, 1954, Serial No. 458,383

2 Claims. (Cl. i60-330) The present invention relates to a stitening orreinforcing element adapted to be mounted in the heading of a lined orunlined drape in order to prevent sagging or twisting of the cornerportion of the drapery.

lt is the practice to support curtains or drapes along the top portionthereof on a bar or curtain rod and the drapes are often supported atspaced intervals by means of hooks or the like carried by the drapewhich engage over the curtain rod or extend into elements which travelalong a track provided by the curtain rod. The corner of such drapeoften sags and bends from the plane of the drape. Such an unsightlycondition is usually more apparent at the upper corner of the free edgeof the curtain.

An object of the present invention is to provide means for impartingrigidity to an upper corner of a drape or curtain and to provide astitfening member which may be readily attached to the drape in aconcealed manner so as to support the fabric from which the drape ismade and to avoid the unsightly drooping or turning of the upper cornerof the drape from the normal plane of the curtain.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stiffening orreinforcing element for the corner of a drape which may be readilymounted therein and removed when the drape or curtain is cleaned andconveniently reinserted in place to hold the corner tirm and in properposition when the drapes are rehung.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as thepresent disclosure proceeds and upon consideration of the followingdetailed description and the accompanying drawing wherein an exemplaryembodiment of the invention is disclosed.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a reinforcing member exhibiting theinvention.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the upper corner portion of an unlineddrape taken from the inside thereof illustrating the mounting of thereinforcing member.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view of the front of the drapeshowing the manner in which the member is concealed therein.

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the upper corner portion of a lineddrape taken from the inside showing the reinforcing member in place.

Referring to the drawing a portion of an unlined drape is shown at whichmay be made of any suitable fabric. The side edge of the curtain isfolded over and stitched at 11 to define one side edge 12 of thecurtain. A top portion of the fabric is folded downwardly to lie alongthe inner face 14 of the curtain to provide a heading 16. A strip ofstilfening fabric 17 such as buckram or the like is secured to theheader hem by means of stitching 18. The upper edge 19 (Fig. 3) of thestilfening fabric may be secured to the material which ICC forms theheader hem or remain unattached. The fabric which forms the heading 16is attached by means of stitching (not shown) to the side edge 12 of thecurtain.

The material from which the drape is formed including the stilfeningcloth 17 and the header hem 16 is gathered to form pleats 22. A seriesof such pleats are formed along the top portion of the curtain in a wellknown manner. A pocket 23 is provided in the corner of the curtainbetwen the inner face of the drape 10 and the inner face of thestiffening layer 17 for receiving an element for imparting rigidity tothe corner of the curtain. The stitening or reinforcing element may beformed of any suitable light weight material such as metal, plastic orthe like. The reinforcing and supporting member includes two arms 26 and27 arranged substantially at right angles to each other. The elementincludes a third arm 28 which extends from the confluence of the twoarms 26 and 27 and at an angle of approximately forty-five degrees. Thearms and the entire element is preferably formed of sheet materialhaving a thickness of one sixteenth to about three thirtyseconds of aninch so as to tit within the pocket 23 without any noticeable increasein the thickness of the drape in this area. A hole 31 is provided in theend of each arm.

The reinforcing member has sufficient rigidity so that all three armsremain in the same plane during normal conditions of supporting thecorner of the curtain or drape. The reinforcing device may be readilypositioned in the pocket 23 and secured therein by means of stitching 32which extends through the material forming the header hem 16 and thestiffening fabric 17. The corner 33 of the support member ts within theupper corner of the pocket. The arm 26 occupies a horizontal positionand the upper edge is arranged along the upper boundary of the pocket23. The arm 27 is normally in a vertical position and the outer edgeextends along the vertical edge of the pocket. The intermediate arm 28assists in preventing sagging of the corner portion of the drape. Thestitchings 32 at the ends of the arms secures the reinforcing member inposition. These stitches may be cut when the curtain is to be cleaned sothat the reinforcing member may be removed from the pocket 23.

The reinforcing device may also be applied to lined drapes and fitswithin the corner thereof in a manner shown in Fig. 5. In such a curtainthe lining 36 extends to the lower portion of the drape. The lining isstitched at 37 to an inwardly folded portion 38 of the drape whichdefines a side edge of the curtain. A strip of stiffening fabric such asbuckram 39 is mounted between the lining 36 and front fabric of thedrape and terminates at its lower edge at 40. The horizontal arm 26 ofthe reinforcing member is stitched at 32 to the lining 36 and thestiffening layer 39. The vertical arm 27 is concealed between the sidefold 38 and the fabric at the front of the curtain. The arm 28 isprovided with an opening 3l and stitched to the lining 36 and thebuckram 39. In both the lined and unlined curtain the stitching 32 doesnot show at the front face of the drape.

The reinforcing device may be made of any suitable dimensions in thatthe arms may be of greater or shorter length than that illustrated. Thereinforcing member may be applied to other types of drapes in order toprevent sagging or twisting of the corner of the drapery. Such changesand others may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is.'

1. An unsupported upper free corner portion of a drapery reinforced toprevent drooping and bending of the corner portion from the generalplane of the remainder of the drapery comprising, fabric means formingan outer element of the drapery, inner fabric means depending from ahorizontal top edge of the first fabric means along an inner facethereof, means closing said fabric means along a vertical free edge ofthe drapery, said fabric means and closure means forming a pocket withinthe upper free corner of the drapery, a reinforcing member within saidpocket, said reinforcing member including one sheet-like arm having astraight upper edge extending horizontally along the upward boundary ofthe pocket terminating in the corner of the pocket, a second sheet-likearm forming a part of said reinforcing member extending substantially atright angles from the irst arm with an edge of the second arm dependingfrom the end of the rst arm and from the corner of the pocket verticallyalong the closed edge of said pocket, a third sheet-like arm extendingfrom the juncture of the rst and second arms in a directionsubstantially bisecting the angle between the rst and second arms, allof said arms being in a common plane, and means attaching the end ofeach of said arms to the inner fabric means.

2. A sheet-like device for fitting within and reinforcing an upper freeunsupported corner of a drape consisting of, an L-shaped memberincluding two sheet-like arms arranged substantially at right angles toeach other with outer edges of said arms being arranged at right anglesto each other, a third sheet-like arm extending from the juncture of therst two arms substantially along a bisector of the angle between saidirst two arms, all of said arms being arranged in a common plane with aportion of the third arm in the vicinity of the juncture of the firsttwo arms enlarging the area of continuous sheet material of the cornerof the device, and each arm having a hole in the free end portionthereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSGrornes Mar. 28, 1939 Tendrich et al Apr. 22, 1941 Swatford Aug. 3, 1954

